Rocky Road In Europe For E-Books

Different circumstances in Europe than in North America when it comes to e-books, but what I get out of this is that e-readers are coming now in various shapes and forms from different companies, sort of the same as what has happened to mp3 players. I really do feel that this development may affect somehow the way we read. Click here to read the whole article. Excerpts:

The devices are billed as less cumbersome than a laptop and said to offer a reading experience comparable to that with bound paper, even outdoors on a sunny day.

But digital publishing consultant Ralf Alkenbrechen said the American model could not be transplanted in Europe without a few modifications.

He noted that the US publishing and bookselling markets were dominated by "a few majors, meaning fewer people you have to strike deals with, more limited financial means to digitize the books and more sales volume," he told AFP.

In Europe, the sector is far more fragmented -- across national lines and among small publishing houses. In addition, mobile roaming fees make downloading a book a pricey prospect when crossing a national border in Europe.

Alkenbrecher said that even if the evolution toward virtual books is "inevitable," they will always be a mere complement to the paper variety.

He estimates that e-books will make up at least 10 percent of the market in Germany in 10 years, with interest particularly strong for scientific publications and pocket guides.
Steinhauser, for his part, is counting on periodicals to set the market alight.

"No one wants to pay to read a newspaper on his computer but you could imagine it for a personal subscription on an electronic reader," he said.

Steinhauser said the digital age could bring with it a renaissance of the serialized novel "in which you read the latest episode everyday on your electronic reader, in the subway or on the beach."

With the new devices, the publishing sector could face a wave of illegal copying that has slammed the music industry, Alkenbrecher acknowledges.

"But by refusing to sell books in an electronic form, you would only push consumers toward breaking the law," he said.